Author Topic: April Cycling Challenge 2014  (Read 6595 times)

Nancy

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2014, 06:57:09 PM »
Thanks so much Nancy! 

jordanread

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2014, 08:52:24 PM »
I'm in!! Just a head's up, the Duplicate me sheet has March dates, and I didn't want to mess with it just in case you referenced it for some reason. Updated on my own sheet though.

Nancy

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2014, 07:52:56 AM »
Thanks for catching that, Jordanread! All set.

Mori

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2014, 11:35:18 AM »
Woot! Thanks, Nancy!

13owie

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2014, 09:37:11 PM »
Thanks Nancy!

The_Dude

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2014, 09:51:35 AM »
I set two new personal bests with my commute.

I used to do a drive part way, then ride part way commute while building up my endurance (changes the bike portion from 16.75 miles to 9.5 miles).  Yesterday due to getting 5.5 hours of sleep I decided to do that agian for the first time in about a month and on my way home I eeked out an average speed of 18.39 on my stock trek 7100 hybrid (still has suspension forks and seatpost). 

Today on the ride in to work (overall uphill slightly) I managed a new best average speed (excluding days with a tailwind) of 17.12mph on the full 16.75 mile ride.

Both average speed times are calculated when the bike is moving and excludes time sitting stationary at stop lights.

Pretty stoked.  Though I have an ebike kit I'm planning to install over the weekend to try and drop my commute time to below 1 hour even with stops at lights.

Shor

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2014, 09:57:57 AM »
I set two new personal bests with my commute.

I used to do a drive part way, then ride part way commute while building up my endurance (changes the bike portion from 16.75 miles to 9.5 miles).  Yesterday due to getting 5.5 hours of sleep I decided to do that agian for the first time in about a month and on my way home I eeked out an average speed of 18.39 on my stock trek 7100 hybrid (still has suspension forks and seatpost). 

Today on the ride in to work (overall uphill slightly) I managed a new best average speed (excluding days with a tailwind) of 17.12mph on the full 16.75 mile ride.

Both average speed times are calculated when the bike is moving and excludes time sitting stationary at stop lights.

Pretty stoked.  Though I have an ebike kit I'm planning to install over the weekend to try and drop my commute time to below 1 hour even with stops at lights.
That is pretty awesome. What do you use to track your speed and times?

My haphazard system is to send a text to my gf when I leave the door, and another when I arrive at my destination.
If I run in to traffic lights, it's my own fault for not riding fast enough! :(

The_Dude

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2014, 10:57:19 AM »
That is pretty awesome. What do you use to track your speed and times?

My haphazard system is to send a text to my gf when I leave the door, and another when I arrive at my destination.
If I run in to traffic lights, it's my own fault for not riding fast enough! :(

Thanks!

I have a Sigma bike computer.  I love tracking stats on things.  Maybe why I loved RPG video game so much as a kid.  So I enjoy knowing precisely how far I've ridden, how fast, how long etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-BC-1009-Bicycle-Speedometer/dp/B003BCG9EK


jordanread

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #9 on: April 11, 2014, 11:51:30 AM »
That is pretty awesome. What do you use to track your speed and times?
I use My Tracks (free Google App) on my Moto X. Super accurate, and relatively nice on the battery life. One thing I did notice is how accurate it is. I haven't hooked up my bike phone mount yet, so it was in my cargo pocket, meaning it was going up and down with each revolution of the pedals. Got home and saw that I had an elevation gain of 6000 feet. Sure didn't feel like it. Felt super bad ass until I realized that every time I pedaled it was about 10 inches or something. :-)

Thegoblinchief

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #10 on: April 11, 2014, 04:54:21 PM »
I use Run Keeper's cycling mode with the GPS on my phone.

18mph is damn impressive. Not sure what I hit when actually moving, but my averages are usually about 13mph including traffic lights.

Sonorous Epithet

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2014, 07:27:31 PM »
I added myself and my miles! :D

europe

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #12 on: April 12, 2014, 10:18:48 PM »
I also biked my first miles this year... I can't wait to do it more regularly.

darkadams00

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #13 on: April 19, 2014, 04:45:12 PM »
Woohoo! DW rode with me to get groceries today--in a chilly rain. in a skirt. on a town bike. Suburbanites pouring in and out of the store just stared as we loaded up our two baskets worth for the ride home. This is a very fair-weather town that breaks out North Face parkas for 50 degree rain. Grocery store parking lot looked like February outside a ski lodge minus the snow. On the way back, one gray-haired older fella did give us a thumbs up as he passed us, going the other way on his bike.

SisterX

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #14 on: April 22, 2014, 01:36:36 PM »
Very proud to say, I've started biking to work again after a year and a half!  I walked in the meantime--I don't bike in the winter (can't on my bike and not willing to buy a new/another one when I can just walk instead), then I was pregnant (I biked elsewhere, but I wouldn't have been able to breathe getting up the hill to work!), then I had to recover from a c-section, then I broke my wrist.  :(  But I'm all healed up and not preggo now.  Just a little saddle-sore.  :)
Compared to some of your commutes, mine is really wimpy.  1.6 miles each way.
I haven't added my miles to the spreadsheet.

crazy jane

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2014, 07:30:31 AM »
Thank you Nancy. Finally got to bike this month. YEA!

PindyStache

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #16 on: April 23, 2014, 09:16:59 AM »
Welcome SisterX! I'd take a 1.6 mile commute if possible--the time savings would be immense! Glad you have such an ideal setup. Stay on the bike and you'll be feeling great in a week or two!

SisterX

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #17 on: April 23, 2014, 10:46:59 AM »
Welcome SisterX! I'd take a 1.6 mile commute if possible--the time savings would be immense! Glad you have such an ideal setup. Stay on the bike and you'll be feeling great in a week or two!

Thanks!  I know the saddle soreness will probably go away by the end of the week.  :)

GuitarStv

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #18 on: April 25, 2014, 03:23:37 PM »
I totally forgot about this mileage thing last year . . . Can someone add me back on to the master list.  Can't figure it out from my wife's ipad.

Shor

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #19 on: April 25, 2014, 03:36:38 PM »
I totally forgot about this mileage thing last year . . . Can someone add me back on to the master list.  Can't figure it out from my wife's ipad.
Done. Welcome back to the fold!

jordanread

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #20 on: April 30, 2014, 02:26:06 PM »
Oh man, this was fun. I've determined that I am like the post office says they are.

Quote
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night

But wind...fuck wind. That shit is stupid. Besides miscellaneous bike issues (broken clip, squeaky crankset, jumping gears), wind was the only thing that actually made me mad. On my uphill way to work, it made me work twice as hard, and took 75% longer to arrive. On the way home, I apparently matched speed with the tailwind, so I had no cooling breeze.

And still better than driving. I think I'll probably break 300 miles next month.

Ottawa

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #21 on: May 01, 2014, 05:47:53 AM »
But wind...fuck wind. That shit is stupid. Besides miscellaneous bike issues (broken clip, squeaky crankset, jumping gears), wind was the only thing that actually made me mad. On my uphill way to work, it made me work twice as hard, and took 75% longer to arrive. On the way home, I apparently matched speed with the tailwind, so I had no cooling breeze.

And still better than driving. I think I'll probably break 300 miles next month.

Firstly - good on ya for upping your goal!  Yeah, I used to despise the wind.  Ottawa isn't all that bad for winds - not compared to Wellington, NZ, where I used to commute regularly into 50-70km/h winds - gusts that would make your bike almost come to a standstill.  However, I played a jedi mind trick on myself and said FUCK IT - I love the wind because I am getting an awesome resistance training workout - for free!  Now, I hardly notice if there is a wind or not.  Same goes for hills too!  Try it and report back :-)

GuitarStv

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #22 on: May 01, 2014, 06:38:14 AM »
I have been known to angrily yell insults at the wind on particularly bad days.  Then I remember where I am and that everyone around me is staring at the crazy guy on the bike.  Then I remember that, as the crazy guy on a bike I don't give a shit what everyone around me thinks and continue on my way.

jordanread

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #23 on: May 01, 2014, 09:16:35 AM »
Yeah, my ride in this morning was incredible. I'll write about it in another thread. I'm prepping the May Cycling challenge spreadsheet right now, so maybe in there.

SisterX

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #24 on: May 01, 2014, 11:40:10 AM »
But wind...fuck wind. That shit is stupid. Besides miscellaneous bike issues (broken clip, squeaky crankset, jumping gears), wind was the only thing that actually made me mad. On my uphill way to work, it made me work twice as hard, and took 75% longer to arrive. On the way home, I apparently matched speed with the tailwind, so I had no cooling breeze.

And still better than driving. I think I'll probably break 300 miles next month.

Firstly - good on ya for upping your goal!  Yeah, I used to despise the wind.  Ottawa isn't all that bad for winds - not compared to Wellington, NZ, where I used to commute regularly into 50-70km/h winds - gusts that would make your bike almost come to a standstill.  However, I played a jedi mind trick on myself and said FUCK IT - I love the wind because I am getting an awesome resistance training workout - for free!  Now, I hardly notice if there is a wind or not.  Same goes for hills too!  Try it and report back :-)

Yeah, I'm still going to spend every morning, when I go uphill, thinking, "Grumble grumble complain bitch moan!"  Or something along those lines.  It's worth it for the "Wheeeeeeeeee!!!" in my head as I go downhill in the afternoons.

And this morning, not only did I go up the hill one gear higher than usual, but I had a woman at work tell me, "I see you go up that hill every morning.  It's a big hill, but you're getting faster!"  :)

jordanread

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Re: April Cycling Challenge 2014
« Reply #25 on: May 02, 2014, 11:56:25 AM »
Yeah, I'm still going to spend every morning, when I go uphill, thinking, "Grumble grumble complain bitch moan!"  Or something along those lines.  It's worth it for the "Wheeeeeeeeee!!!" in my head as I go downhill in the afternoons.

And this morning, not only did I go up the hill one gear higher than usual, but I had a woman at work tell me, "I see you go up that hill every morning.  It's a big hill, but you're getting faster!"  :)
Way to go on the improvement. I still haven't determined whether I like the uphill part on the way to work, or from work. Granted, the exhilaration is there on both sides, so I always feel great coming in to work, but coasting most of the way home and then cracking a beer almost seems like cheating.

FYI, I worked it out. There is about an 800 ft elevation gain over 10 miles from home to work. It's subtle, but makes a difference, and it's relatively even. Only about two big hills, and they are just there to make me mad and allow me to say I biked to work, uphill, both ways. :-)

But wind...fuck wind. That shit is stupid.
[...]
And still better than driving. I think I'll probably break 300 miles next month.

Firstly - good on ya for upping your goal!  Yeah, I used to despise the wind.  Ottawa isn't all that bad for winds - not compared to Wellington, NZ, where I used to commute regularly into 50-70km/h winds - gusts that would make your bike almost come to a standstill.  However, I played a jedi mind trick on myself and said FUCK IT - I love the wind because I am getting an awesome resistance training workout - for free!  Now, I hardly notice if there is a wind or not.  Same goes for hills too!  Try it and report back :-)


Not necessarily upping my goal, just getting back into the groove of almost completely switching my commute to bicycle. Also just heard a rumor that there may be showers hiding somewhere in this building, so that's a plus if it's true. Still have to go to Denver 1-2 times a month (it'd be a 75 mile ride, one way), so that's the ultimate goal for my commute. Got some work on the bike to do first.  As for a free awesome resistance training workout...I can have one of those whenever I want, and I usually don't want one on the way to work. That being said, I did just switch from my broken toe clips to Power Grips...huge difference (biking in Vibrams comes with a unique set of challenges) and now I definitely look at hills a bit more as a fun challenge. Maybe as I get back in practice, wind will turn out the same.

For now though:

I have been known to angrily yell insults at the wind on particularly bad days.  Then I remember where I am and that everyone around me is staring at the crazy guy on the bike.  Then I remember that, as the crazy guy on a bike I don't give a shit what everyone around me thinks and continue on my way.

I'll just do that.